The FIND - A wooden chair with a fiddle splat back
I received this well-used chair from a neighbor. It had multiple chips in the veneer along the splat and signs of wear along the wooden frame, but overall was still solid and I liked the decorative details. The flat center of the chair back (inside the oval frame) is called the splat. Splats can take many forms and display decorative motifs. In general, this splat shape seems to be known as 'fiddle', but there may be a more specific name somewhere in the depths of the interwebs that I haven't yet found.
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| Chair as received, signs of wear indeed |
The damaged bits and the dark color scheme just weren't working anymore, time for a makeover.
The Makeover
I had to fill the chips in the splat veneer using woodfiller, on both the front and back of the chair. Don't forget about the back of the chair, it gets lots of use and can be banged against a wall too.
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| Detail of chipped veneer on chair back. |
After the wood filler had dried it was sanded smooth.
The next phase was priming and painting, which involved trying to pick just the right shade of blue (custom mixed from the paints I had on hand).
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| Chair frame after being repaired and primed. |
The first paint color was too grey...
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| First coat of paint, too grey. |
The second paint color was too baby blue...
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| Second chair paint color, too blue. |
The third paint color was just right, but we're not there yet! First I had to add new foam to the chair base and recover the seat.
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| Using the old seat to measure new foam. |
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| Detail of fabric piping along the chair edge. |
The Results
And after all that wondering about color, here it is with just the right shade of blue-grey.
Conclusion
I loved the way this chair turned out. Modernized in a light and bright but not too loud color, sort of a Gustavian / cottagecore mashup style. Happy freestyling, don't overlook a solid wooden chair even if there is some surface damage - wood filler and paint make excellent friends.
Conclusion - An Extra Comparison For Fun
Whilst traipsing through the endless world of fancy design blogs I came across the "Oleander Cane Back Chair" pictured below on the website The Expert.Com -- the color-similarity with my chair project was noted. What was also very noticeable was the price difference! My chair project did not cost $2,000, but if someone wanted to buy a fixed up freestyle find for that much I wouldn't be upset. I would buy some fancier paint, and maybe even a paint sprayer.....
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| source: The Expert |